February Make a Difference winners

When we surprised Mrs. Ader's third grade class, they were reading Charlotte's Web. "Did she help Wilbur?" said Mrs. Ader.  "No," said the class.
 

"Because true friendship means you help somebody because you want to help somebody. You don't help them to see what you get back in return," said Mrs. Ader.

Although Charlotte's Web is a just story, being a true friend is something these kids take very seriously. In fact, the class decided to help one of their classmates around Christmas and made a blanket for Jessica who has cerebral palsy.

"We surprised Jessica with her own blanket and she comes every day with it and she just loves it," said Mrs. Ader.
The kids enjoyed working on this project and decided to keep it going blanket by blanket. "We give away blankets sometimes to people who really need them," said Jacob Harrison, a student in Mrs. Ader's class. Like another fellow classmate.

Ashlynn had her gall bladder taken out and right away, her friends decided to make her a blanket. "That made me feel so happy that people were actually sitting there thinking about me," said Ashlynn Wathen, a student in Mrs. Ader's class.

And these kids are always thinking of ways to help others, even giving up their recess time to make blankets or stuff treat bags for troops overseas.

One of the marines, who received a treat bag, even wrote one of the students to say thank you. "If you believe in yourself you can do anything little guy," said Ryan Hawkins, a student who received the letter.

As adults, we often do things expecting something in return, but these kids don't. They just help others because it's the right thing to do.

So maybe we should re-read Charlotte's Web or let these kids remind us the true meaning of friendship. If you'd like to nominate someone for a Make a Difference award, go to the Community Page on the website.